ANKARA - In a statement regarding November 25, the IHD Women’s Commission said, ‘’We neither accept to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, nor bow down to those who usurp the rights we have won’’.

 

The Human Rights Association (IHD) Headquarters Women’s Commission issued a statement on the occasion of the November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

 

‘Impunity encourages perpetrators’

 

Pointing out that the government has attacked all the gains of women and LGBTI+s, the statement pointed out that increasingly impoverished households have become the addresses of more exploitation and violence for women. In the statement said, ‘’The resources allocated to war and rent are not allocated to social policy. Women’s poverty is deepening. The government, which withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, which has been won by struggle and whose we became followers for its implementation, gives the message to the perpetrators that violence is legitimate. Impunity has become a widespread policy, encouraging the perpetrators’’.

 

‘Tortures such as strip search continue’

 

Pointing out the importance of the Istanbul Convention, the statement said, ‘’Women have always been subjected to violence, sexual torture and assaults during conflict and war processes. During the First and Second World Wars, this was not considered a war crime in the Tokyo and Nuremberg International Courts. However, after the organized struggle and demands of women as a result of the wars and conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda, violence against women and sexual assault are now considered ‘’crimes against humanity, war crimes’’. Despite this, tortures such as strip search still continue in detentions and prisons’’.

 

‘We do not bow down to those who usurp the rights we have won’

 

It emphasized that the geography, which we live has become a place that is increasingly far from human rights, international norms and standards, where violence is politically supported. The statement continued, ‘’We women, who come face to face with the life threat, fought for each of our rights, and we continue to do so. We neither accept to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, nor bow down to those who usurp the rights we have won’’.